The Mortimers - November 12Mickie O’Neill’s talk at St Nicholas’ Church Warndon was full of anecdotes and fascinating facts about this family which dared to aim for the crown. It was accompanied by slides of their homes, Wigmore and Ludlow Castles, and the effigy of Blanche Mortimer in the church at Much Marcle - see cover - daughter of the subject of the next talk. Mickie will be continuing the story in March, focussing on Roger Mortimer, the greatest traitor - or not, depending on your sympathies! (See page 11).
She noted the recent research into the family by historian Ian Mortimer and the work of the Mortimer Society. Her fascinating presentation began with the arrival in England from Normandy of Ralph de Mortemer with William the Conqueror. William granted him land in Shropshire and Herefordshire and the family became Lords of Wigmore, where their ruined castle still stands close to Wigmore Abbey, which they founded, now a private house. She traced their history through the Middle Ages to the marriages of Edmund, third Earl of March to Philippa, Lionel of Clarence’s daughter, and Anne Mortimer to Richard, Earl of Cambridge, which led to the consolidation of the Yorkist claim to the crown.
She explained the problems of the succession under the childless Richard II and the disregarding of the Mortimer claim by the usurper Henry IV. She emphasised not only the importance of the marriage alliances the Mortimers made, but also their closeness to the throne throughout the medieval period. The violence of the deaths of many members of the family should not, perhaps, have been surprising.